After a delicious start, we all headed to the room we were using for our workshops. We went through introductions with everyone. I was lucky enough to be in a room with some really amazing, dedicated, and experienced art teachers from across the country. Stevie talked about Crizmac and their purpose for putting together these types of trips and professional development opportunities for art teachers. She also delved deeper into the meaning behind the International Folk Art Market and it's purpose beyond simply selling art. Her Powerpoint presentation was fascinating. The one quote that stuck out to me was, "It's not just a market, it's a miracle." I learned so much about different artists from various countries and how the work they would sell during that weekend may feed their entire village for a whole year. I learned many of these artists are saving the dying arts, traditions, and customs of their cultures. Through creating their work, they are helping sustain their lives and art through continuing cultural traditions. Understand that there is a very wide variety of items sold at the market. The market is open to artists from around the world. They go through a very intense selection process and MUST sell the EXACT items they send photographs of at the market. It is very strict that everything is handmade and of the highest quality.
During Stevie's presentation, it was empowering to hear stories of women in different countries take the power of their artistic freedom and creativity to make work to support themselves and their families. We would later (the next time we met to work hands-on) have the opportunity to meet some of the artists while we worked on our projects so we could talk with them more in depth about their work, processes, creative inspiration, and cultural significance. They brought items for us to buy, including some things that were not available at the market, but I will get to that in another entry.
When we broke for lunch, I walked to the plaza with a group of the girls. We walked around and tried to find a place who had a reasonably priced lunch menu. We settled on the Thunderbird Bar and Grill. The decor was cool. Here were a couple of 3-D pieces on the wall.
By the time my food came out, I was feeling pretty terrible. It's not fun to stare at your lunch and not be able to enjoy it. I felt sorry for my lunch dates, because I knew they were concerned and there was really nothing anyone could do. As soon as we were done, we headed back to the hotel for the second part of the workshop. I went upstairs to rest for a while, because I simply felt terrible. The altitude sickness was really creating havoc on my stomach. I took a nap and rested up for our big dinner that evening. I knew that even if I couldn't really eat, I definitely wanted to get to know the other participants of this wonderful opportunity.
We met for dinner downstairs (thankfully I was feeling better and a little stronger). I was able to walk the few blocks it took to get to the restaurant. We had reservations for our entire group at Casa Chimayo. We walked in and the first thing I saw were hanging peppers, which is just one of the things you think of when you think of New Mexico.
We were free to order anything from the menu. I chose green chile tamales and they were to die for!
Afterwards we walked back to the hotel and admired the lovely weather. There really is something to be said about the lack of humidity there. Being outside actually FEELS awesome ANY time of the day, even when it's really hot. Anyway, on the way back there was this super cool place that had tons of intricately carved wooden doors of all types, sizes, and varieties. There was no sign saying when it was open, but it was very explicit about there being no photos taken of their "stuff." So I got a shot from the outside and a selfie with one of their Indian inspired elephant statues sitting outside the gates.
Back tracking to the afternoon session of the workshop, I was really sad I missed the talk about quilting. An American representative for a Pakistani quilter cooperative was there to discuss the work these women do. My sweet roommate brought me scraps of quilts they were giving as examples of the hand stitching work these women do. Each stitch is hand done, ever fold, every different piece of fabric. They are works of art on the front AND the back, I think anyway. I especially loved the tassels.
The group also discussed the lesson plan associated with the quilt squares. Luckily, Nancy had introduced the project that morning, so I had taken photos of some of her examples, so I knew what was expected and the reasoning behind it. The theme was up to us, but most people wanted to stick to something related to Santa Fe. This is one of Nancy's examples. This piece was very interesting. We were to begin working on quilt squares of our own, so we could be finished by the end of the Monday workshop.
They also discussed the retablo project we were to begin working on. Since I lost a little bit of work time, I decided to work on that piece (or complete it rather) when I got home (but I will get to that in another entry). I decided to wait till Monday morning to get my materials, since I really didn't know what I was doing yet. Marty explained the entire discussion to me and showed me photos. Thank goodness for her!
The next couple of days were designated to finally getting to go to the folk art market. There was so much to see and experience. I can't wait to talk about it in my next entry!
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